1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a logistics method for supplying a plurality of delivery locations using a plurality of supply transports and, more particularly, to logistics computer programming for monitoring, receiving updates, and automatically controlling logistics functions.
2. Description of the Background
When supplying many different types of materials to numerous delivery locations by means of transports, such as a plurality of supply boats, numerous time and cost inefficiencies can arise due to large numbers of requirements for routine and non-routine shipping. For instance, a manifest must be created that specifies the particular materials including quantities and types, the delivery locations to which each is to be delivered, preferably the location on the transport where stored, whether certain materials can be stored together, and handling of hazardous materials including necessary emergency information. Communications can be extremely complicated as many people need to know for various reasons the status of numerous different shipments. The requirements must be relayed to a base that can supply the materials or which must be ordered from numerous different vendors. Changes may need to be made in the manifest and the changes relayed to the base or location directly involved in the shipment process as well as to others indirectly involved such as accounting personnel. It is desirable to track the manifest through the delivery stages such as when the delivery is outstanding, when it is printed, when the materials are ready for loading at the base, when the materials are loaded or delivered and so forth. There may be time constraints depending on the priority of the delivery. It may be desirable to know when the transport has left the base and when the expected time of delivery at a particular location. The heading and position of the supply boats is desirable in real or near real time. Some supply boats may be able to carry the equipment and some may not due to space on the supply boat, geographical location of the supply boat, fuel levels, and so forth. The particular location of storage on the supply boat should be indicated so that an efficient load is provided to reduce costs. Some supply boats may be more efficient for certain cargos so the least cost supply boat should be selected for the manifested materials. The routing of the supply boats will affect the delivery cost and time so that has to be determined. Some materials cannot be stored together. Some materials are hazardous and require special information to be readily available along with special shipping needs.
Numerous other decisions and problems must be met and there is a need to provide efficient communication of all the requirements, changes, and status to different people at different geographic areas, delivery locations, transports, and bases so as to minimize cost while improving reliability. Consequently, there remains a need for a system and method for tracking, control, and logistics that may be effected with efficient communication and planning. Those skilled in the art have long sought and will appreciate the present invention which addresses these and other problems.